Laurel Valley Golf Course & Country Club, Townsend, TN
If you need to feel righteous about golfing while your beloved "makes do” with a massage and a half-day shopping the Pigeon Forge outlets, this is the event for you. For the eleventh year, Friends of the Mary E. Tippitt Memorial Library are hosting their Golf Tournament Benefit on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at the Laurel Valley Golf Course in Townsend, Tennessee.
Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Library by helping fund the services that the Library provides to the community. (See below for the love story.) Registration for the golf tournament starts at 11:30 a.m., with lunch provided for the participants. The tournament starts at 1:00 p.m. Entry fee for players is $80, with an available $20 mulligan package. You can pick up forms at the Mary E. Tippitt Memorial Library, 120 Tiger Dr, Townsend, TN, at the Townsend Visitor Center on Highway 321, and the Laurel Valley Country Club.
In the past, a dozen or more teams of four players have enjoyed playing 18 holes at this beautiful mountain course. Cash prizes are awarded to the best team, closest to the hole, longest drive, and longest putt. This year a special plaque, which will be on display at the clubhouse, honors the winning team. Numerous door prizes and a new car, for a hole-in-one add to the day’s excitement. For more information call Mike Roach at (865) 448-8282. For hole sponsorship contact Judy Krueger at (865) 448-6501.
Don’t you just hate the e-mails you receive that say “You have to read to the end”? Well, I’m glad you did. In 1997, Charles Tippitt opened the Townsend library from scratch as a memorial tribute to his first wife Mary. He rented the space and filled it with 5000 books for adults and children. Over the years it has more than quadrupled in size and grown to a new location, and for a town our size, it is a marvel of information and activity including public access to computers and various children’s programs. Later Charles married Ms. Sue Ann Schlosser, a librarian from Sikeston, Missouri. Sikeston’s loss was our gain when Sue Ann relocated here. Our community has been doubly blessed. mizkathleen@ Gracehill Bed and Breakfast
At the Library and open to all, at 10 a.m. the third Thursday of each month is B.E.A.R. (Be Excited About Reading) Facts Book Club!
Scottish Festival and Highland Games held in Galinburg, TN, May 14th-16th, 2010
Gatlinburg, Tennessee Scottish Festival
The 29thannual Gatlinburg Scottish Festival is a lot more than just a 2-½ day runner up to the week long Grandfather Mountain Highland Games held July 8-11, on Grandfather Mountain near Linville, NC.
The Gatlinburg, Tennessee games, held May 14-16, 2010 at Mills Park, 1230 E. Parkway, on the northeast side of Gatlinburg, spotlights Celtic Scottish history, culture, and events. My family has attended a few times in the past five years, and one of my previous East Tennessee Smoky Mountains Bed and Breakfast guests, Roger Underwood, plays in the Knoxville Pipes and Drums which just appeared in the Dollywood International Parade. He generously provided the photos for this blog.
The bag pipers lead off the festivities at 6 p.m., on Friday, May 14th, with a parade down the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg. If you are a Scot, you may walk behind or follow in a trolley. A gala reception follows at the Quality Inn Creekside.
For a small admission, events start at 8:30 a.m. at Mills Park both Saturday and Sunday. Highlights for my family have always been the Border Collie demonstrations, the Celtic rock bands, and the competitive sporting events. But, there are so many things going on, you can pick and choose. Visit with over 60 heritage and clan societies to assist in exploring your heritage. Be sure to stay for the Ceilidh Under the Stars, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
Center stage is a plethora of bagpipe bands. Click here for a U-Tube video of the Knoxville Pipe and Drum Band. Under tents and on stages, you will find Celtic punk bands, balladeers on guitars, and highland dancing. Sheep dog trials will be conducted twice daily. Men, women, and kids compete in both amateur and pro competitions for several stone putting games: braemar stone, open stone, heavy hammer, turning the caber, tossing the haggis, sheaf, WFH and heavy and light WFD. Vendors offer food, jewelry, books, music, and Scottish clothing. Visit www.gsfg.orgfor more information or call (865) 368-2543. Dress for the weather, no pets allowed, and consider staying at one of the many bed and breakfasts in the area! mizkathleen@ Gracehill Bed and Breakfast.